Worcester roster depleted with loss of top scorers
by Jon Allred on Sep 22, 2011 3:01 AM PDT
in Worcester Watch
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Last weekend, I got a chance to sit down and update the Worcester Sharks roster in the new NHL 12 video game by EA Sports. After making the necessary changes and creating both Mike Connolly and Brodie Reid from Petr Puck’s NHL 12 website, the reality of Worcester’s dire situation finally hit me as the squad is lacking "wow factor."
While San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson was busy in the off-season retooling San Jose for a Stanley Cup run, which should always be his top priority, he lost the heart of Worcester’s scoring from the 2010-11 season as T.J. Trevelyan {73 gp, 19-21-40, 31 pims}, Dan DaSilva {80 gp, 16-25-41, 68 pims} and Jonathan Cheechoo {55 gp, 18-29-47, 14 pims} were not brought back for the 2011-12 season despite combining for 128 points.
Trevelyan, who led Worcester in goals {19} and shots {240}, signed on to play with Augsburger of the Deutsche Eishockey League {DEL}; DaSilva signed with HC Lev Poprad of the Kontinental Hockey League {KHL}; Cheechoo, who led Worcester in assists {29}, points {47} and power play points {6-15-21}, signed a two-way contract with the St. Louis Blues organization.
In addition, forward Patrick Davis {26 gp, 4-4-8, 2 pims} signed on to play with Wolfsburg of DEL while forwards Kevin Henderson {73 gp, 8-13-21, 45 pims}, Michael Swift {18 gp, 1-6-7, 28 pims}, and Corey Quirk {72 gp, 4-7-11, 32 pims} were released.
Losing as many forwards as Worcester did this off-season has left the squad thin up front. Currently, the only forwards on the team are Connolly {42 gp Minnesota-Duluth, 28-26-54, 59 pims}, Reid {37 gp Northeastern, 11-17-28, 18 pims}, Benn Ferriero {43 gp, 16-17-33, 16 pims}, Cam MacIntyre {42 gp, 4-4-8, 32 pims}, John McCarthy {25 gp, 7-5-12, 13 pims}, Tommy Wingels {69 gp, 17-16-33, 69 pims}, Ben Guite {72 gp with AHL Springfield, 17-30-47, 91 pims}, Frazer McLaren {40 gp, 2-2-4, 71 pims}, James Marcou {41 gp, 4-15-19, 18 pims}, Tony Lucia {2 gp, 0-0-0, 0 pims}, Marek Viedensky {63 gp with WHL Saskatoon, 36-52-88, 52 pims}, James Livingston {62 gp with OHL Plymouth, 22-28-50, 52 pims} and Curt Gogol {15 gp with WHL Saskatoon, 1-1-2, 59 pims; 47 gp with WHL Chilliwack, 4-8-12, 142 pims}.
However, both Marcou and Lucia are out with injuries, leaving only 11 forwards and of those 11, only six {Ferriero, Guite, MacIntyre, McCarthy, McLaren, Wingels} played in the AHL last season. In addition, Darryl Hunt {@210Darryl} tweeted last week that the Sharks organization is one of five NHL teams that doesn’t have anyone signed to an AHL-only contract, which could change to one if tryout Nathan Moon {65 gp with OHL Kingston; 32-42-74, 89 pims}, who was assigned to Worcester’s camp from San Jose’s camp on Sept. 21, is signed.
Defensively, Worcester only lost three players as defenseman Nick Schaus {77 gp, 4-15-19, 46 pims} signed a free agent contract with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL while both Joe Loprieno {52 gp, 3-1-4, 61 pims} and Jon Landry {11 gp, 1-2-3, 8 pims} were released.
Unlike the forward position, depth will not be an issue for Worcester on the blueline as head coach Roy Sommer will have eight defensemen he can rotate on a game-to-game basis. Of the eight defensemen, five are returning regulars from last season and include Nick Petrecki {57 gp, 3-11-14, 129 pims}, Mike Moore {49 gp, 2-10-12, 50 pims}, Sean Sullivan {73 gp, 12-23-35, 46 pims}, Matt Irwin {72 gp, 10-21-31, 43 pims} and Justin Braun {34 gp, 5-18-23, 8 pims}.
Joining them will be rookies Taylor Doherty {68 gp with OHL Kingston, 14-39-53, 86 pims} and Sena Acolatse {66 gp with WHL Prince George, 15-48-63, 128 pims}, both of whom joined Worcester for the final three games of the 2010-11 season, and free agent signee Matt Pelech {59 gp with AHL Abbottsford, 3-2-5, 198 pims}.
As for goaltending, Sharks fans had their hearts sink when it was announced during the off-season that Alex Stalock {41 gp, 19-17-4, 2.63 gga, .907 svp} would miss most of, if not all of, the 2011-12 season as doctors told him he can’t return to on-ice training until February 2012, a full year after suffering a sliced nerve injury behind his left knee in a Feb. 4 game against the Manchester Monarchs.
With Stalock out and Carter Hutton {22 gp, 11-7-2, 3.01 gaa, .902 svp} signing a free agent contract with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL, it was expected that newly re-signed goaltender Thomas Greiss, who spent the 2010-11 season with Brynas IF of Elitserien {SEL}, would be Worcester’s starting goalie with Harri Sateri {7 gp, 1-3-1, 2.56 gaa, .918 svp; 49 gp with Tappara, 21-22-4, 2.73 gaa, .915 svp} serving as the backup.
That plan is now in jeopardy due to the rumored hip surgery for San Jose goalie Antero Niittymaki, which could keep him out of action for three months. If Niittymaki does have the surgery, Greiss would be called up to San Jose to serve as Antti Niemi’s backup, leaving Sateri as the starter in Worcester with either rookie Thomas Heemskerk {65 gp with OHL Moose Jaw, 36-21-6, 2.94 gaa, .908 svp} or Tyson Sexsmith {6 gp, 2-3-1, 2.94 gaa, .902 svp; 17 gp with ECHL Stockton, 10-3-3, 2.74 gaa, 0.899 svp} serving as the backup.
Based on paper, the 2011-12 season could see the Worcester Sharks swimming in troubled waters. However, we all know games are played on the ice, not paper, and anything can happen once the puck drops. The young Sharks in Worcester should take to heart the words of Paul Heyman, who said, "Where there is chaos, there is opportunity."
*Statistics provided by www.sharksahl.com and www.hockeydb.com*
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WorSharks should get a bunch of them back
as soon as opening day roster is set for the SJSharks. Might be good that, even though Wor is depleted at the moment, their players are training in the big league preseason, which is a great benefit both ways.
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The ones that are likely going back were listed. They’re still thin as hell.
"Douglas Murray is a humongous human being." – Drew Remenda
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by Evilducks on Sep 22, 2011 8:14 AM PDT via iPhone app up reply actions
Sharks 6, Ducks 1
Nice opening preseason game last night by the Sharks. This is going to be a fun and satisfying year. Not too worried about Worchester right now, but I hope they get their house in order for the future. The Sharks are built to win NOW!
Great to see
the team already pushing to win. 3, 4, 5 wasn’t enough. Hopefully they keep showing that they want more. Wish Mcl would have kept Scgarbossa for at least one game. But I guess there’s too many players fighting for spots as it is.
The team has to learn how to stay in high gear from start to finish and not just when we have to win or start to lose the lead.
I'm not as worried as most...
Yeah, they have some issues with talent, but I was expecting that headed into the season. The Sharks effectively gutted their talent pool with the exception of a few higher level prospects, and most of their new tier of talent can’t play in the AHL this season.
Much of the roster from 2009-2010 was returned for 2010-2011 (with the exception of Couture), and the team went from one of the best to one of the worst. Many players saw scoring drop offs. If some players this year can up their prodcution (I’m looking at you, now healthy Cam McIntyre), than the fates of Worcester should be alot better.
Fear the Fin: "I've always said that if you don't have the motivation within you... It's not Doug Wilson's job to motivate me. I've got motivation within myself, especially going through some of the experiences that I had last year." - Nick Petrecki
I always mess up with Cam MacIntyre’s name.
Fear the Fin: "I've always said that if you don't have the motivation within you... It's not Doug Wilson's job to motivate me. I've got motivation within myself, especially going through some of the experiences that I had last year." - Nick Petrecki
by Matthew_Taylor on Sep 22, 2011 7:53 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm with Matt on this one.
The stronger defense in Worcester and the fact that Doherty and Acolatse should be chipping in more points from the blueline than the now-departed defensemen who came before them should help lessen any offensive downturns.
On top of that, like Matt said, there were a lot of drop offs in scoring. And I think Sheppard will probably play in Worcester before he gets a chance at coming to the NHL team and he could add some extra scoring depth for Worcester either by providing it himself or by allowing someone to be sent back to Worcester in his place to help the farm club’s depth.
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
As much as it probably sucks for the Worchester fans, the main purpose of that team is to develop players and get them playing the Sharks system, with winning secondary to that. So losing some career AHLers doesn’t particularly bother me either.
Unless there are some serious injuries in San Jose, I would expect that guys like Wingels, McCarthy, and Ferriero should fill the gaps left by DaSilva, Cheechoo, and Trevelyan.
Picklesnakebit since 2011.
@shampeon
That actually isn’t true. The AHL doesn’t exist to be an NHL’s development camp, it just worked out that the AHL was that middle tier of starting professionals between the big leagues and juniors, and so most and then later all teams eventually latched onto a club and associated their developing players with them.
Additionally, it is much harder and detrimental to develop in a losing situation. You start to get situations where players think they have to do everything on their own and over extend themselves etc. While it is true that adversity and competition breeds creativity and growth, too much adversity only crushes under the weight of expectation.
It is going to be a tough season for the Woo this year, but i’m hopeful that the higher expectations and the growth from last year transitions into players seeing a window of opportunity to shine.
I am glad though that despite the thinning forward depth for the Woo this year, that Hamilton and Sgarbossa were put back to the OHL instead of getting bumped up to AHL. It means that the Sharks aren’t too worried about the Woo and that they’re not going to rush their development. Look at Sheppard for a poster child case of rushed and damaged development from an organization desperate for offense (and in his case I seriously hope he rehabs well and gets dev time in the Woo to rehap his skillset from the damage the Wild did to him, I still think he can turn out well kind like McGinn’s potential).
Sgarbossa and Hamilton aren’t old enough to play in the AHL otherwise they would probably be playing there.
Why don’t they let 18 and 19 year olds play in the AHL anyways?
The AHL exists to be a pro sports league. The teams in the AHL are primarily development teams. If you ask any of the San Jose or Worchester management what is more important, a Calder Cup or player development, the answer will be unanimously the latter. If doing so means they win it all, they’ll take it.
Yeah, it’s important to instill a successful atmosphere in your farm teams, but they look for more than just wins and losses.
Picklesnakebit since 2011.
@shampeon
Most of minor league baseball is made up from leagues that went through the same process as the AHL.
They were once less elite but theoretically competing leagues, just like the AHL. But after slowly being bought out by the most elite of the leagues, they’ve become the developmental system. Minor league baseball just has a 75 year headstart on the process. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday the OHL was purchased by the NHL teams and made more like AA or A level baseball.
Honestly, I think the developmental system is a strength that MLB and the NHL share; players generally come out as much more well-rounded players and people with more ties to fans, team, and teammates with the developmental systems. Unlike the NBA or NFL where the players aren’t very far off from mercenaries unless they’re on one of the elite teams.
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
Isnt ECHL the AA level?
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Theoretically.
The team relationships with the ECHL aren’t really solid yet. Someday, though.
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
The WorSharks are still a business
They are trying to make money for the big club too. Putting a bad product on the ice alienates fans, and if it continues to suck it may fold and leave us without an AHL club (see: Ducks, Anaheim) and forced to put our prospects on ECHL teams, or AHL teams affiliated with other NHL teams.
As mentioned above, it’s also bad for young players to be thrown into an environment where they aren’t able to compete. It’s bad for the psyche and development. It’s the same reason you don’t want to break kids by shoving them straight into the NHL. They need to build confidence, being the AHL version of the Oilers isn’t going to help that.
"Douglas Murray is a humongous human being." – Drew Remenda
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All of what you guys are saying is compatible with what I’m saying. Developing players is the goal. Winning is a factor in that, but not necessarily the highest priority.
The WorSharks lost some of their top scorers, but that opens ice time for our actual prospects. Signing guys like DaSilva for the farm is important for teaching and confidence and so on, but ice-time for Ferriero and Wingels might be more important right now.
Picklesnakebit since 2011.
@shampeon
I'm pretty stoked on the Woo's defense as well...
They’re going to be so stacked on the blueline, its obscene. And Sateri should be more than fine in net (and I still think Sexsmith could turn into something too). The forward corps is thin…but at least pretty much everyone there has NHL upside at some point. The problem with past teams is that we had career AHLers in there. Which was nice for the Woo and their fans, but didn’t really help the organization.
The Woo will be more interesting than ever to watch this year, at least for me, with all the prospects there that could be in our future soon enough.
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
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by ZeroIndulgence on Sep 22, 2011 11:07 AM PDT up reply actions
Question for the experts...
Why is it that Michael Sgarbossa and a few other top name prospects are assigned to teams other than the WorSharks while Nathan Moon and others who are ‘not a member of the Sharks organization’ get placed in Worchester? Are different teams in place for different stages of development?
'Reality is harsh to the feet of shadows.'
Top o' 209
It all depends on your age. Once you hit the age limit in Juniors (20) you can’t be assigned their anymore and you would have to report to a professional league (AHL, ECHL etc.)
There’s more here.
"Now get on board going down the river float, we gonna raise a ruckus tonight" - OCMS
Fear The Fin: Where Selling Your Soul Is The Likely Solution
Also, I’d like to add, the biggest benefit of doing so is that you don’t burn a year off their Entry Level Contract (ELC). Once a player plays in 10 professional games, you “use” one of those years on his ELC and he becomes a free agent faster.
Watch the League around the 8 game mark this season. You’ll see an organization or two having to make the decision whether to send a guy back to Juniors or use him in the AHL. Guys who come to mind from prior years were Brayden Schenn (when he was with LA last year) and Luca Sbisa (I forget if it was with PHI or ANA).
"Now get on board going down the river float, we gonna raise a ruckus tonight" - OCMS
Fear The Fin: Where Selling Your Soul Is The Likely Solution
Thanks
I remember when Vlasic was a rookie and there was something like this going on with Patrick Roy and the Quebec Ramparts. I guess I just didn’t realize that the OHL wasn’t considered professional. Thanks again!
'Reality is harsh to the feet of shadows.'
Top o' 209
Sweet logo
As a cheap bastard, that’s still the only logo I own on a Sharks jersey
by calixtus on Sep 22, 2011 9:11 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
This is a pretty random comment that came out of a lot of half-responses to various things said in this thread, so I apologize for it's lack of coherence...
As I said above, I think that Worcester will benefit from having a more AHL-elite defense this season. Last year, they were pretty lousy on defense and their goaltending became a revolving door. This year, they’re adding two prospects who the Sharks were willing to put out PKing against their top two lines at Teal and White in Doherty and Acolatse. Sure the pressure of the situations are different, but I think it shows the faith the top brass has in the kids.
Also I think Worcester is really reflective of the higher club’s situation. Both are looking for some vets to step up, dealing with the departure of high point earners, introducing a bigger emphasis on defense, and needing some newcomers to prove themselves to help the team fill the gaps.
If Worcester struggles, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few of the lower-tier prospects (or most under performing) traded for AHL-only players or other prospects to give the organization more contract wiggle room and Worcester a boost.
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
This about sums it up.
In all seriousness, I am worried about our lack of depth in Worcester. I do think that some of the kids who are hanging on with the Sharks right now (specifically Brodie Reid) could have an impact if they’re under contract and can be sent down.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"-Wayne Gretzky"-Michael Scott.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on Sep 22, 2011 9:08 PM PDT reply actions
It's not Worchester
Worcester Sharks season ticket holder here, checking in. Please note, it’s not Worchester. I have mixed feelings going into the new season for our beloved Worcester Sharks. Why no Dan daSilva? This guy had the best fights, even better than the known enforcers on that team. Michael Lehr spoke with us season holders last April. He made it clear that they want to win in Worcester, however they are not going to sign 500k AHL players, if they are worth that much, they would be in the NHL.
by ItsnotWorchester on Sep 23, 2011 6:48 AM PDT reply actions
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